The Healthy House: How to Buy One, How to Build One, How to Cure a Sick One [Anglais] [Broché]

Even a healthy homeowner may feel queasy after dipping into this book. Bower, a designer and builder who has written about the environment, states that some people are highly sensitive to household odors, dust, molds and plastics out-gassing, then goes on to warn that the number of such sufferers is increasing. Perhaps, but since Bower presents no hard data, his authority is called into question. And though he offers a long list of technical and scientific references in support of his arguments, at other points the author undermines his credibility, tossing ecological brickbats at many of today's building products, not always with the accuracy expected of a building professional. For example, Bower faults concrete roof tile for its porosity (which encourages mold) and periodic need of repainting (paint chemicals can adversely affect sensitive people), despite the fact that, as most roofers know, much concrete tile sold is permanently color-glazed and non-porous. In a single sentence, Bower dismisses vinyl, the highest-selling siding nationally, as simply "not recommended," with an imperiousness typical and regrettable.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

Most people feel safest at home; little do they know how many environmental dangers lurk in the average house. While some folks are more sensitive to these pollutants than others, there are numerous real hazards in both existing and new construction. Lead paint, arsenic in pressure-treated lumber, and outgassing from synthetic materials are only a few of the more notorious problems. Bower covers the house from top to bottom, explaining potential problems and offering safe solutions. A number of brief sidebars written by various experts elaborate and explain the text. The six most common household pollutants lead, asbestos, radon, mold, combustion byproducts, and volatile organic compounds are are covered in particular detail. A huge list of suppliers (including their web addresses) and a bibliography round out this title. Sure to sound a wake-up call, this title is an essential purchase for public libraries.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

With the publication of this updated The Healthy House, Bower offers a wealth of carefully organized, practical information...His mastery of building techniques and house design is evident: He explains hands-on practical diagnostic techniques and offers thorough coverage of virtually every material used in homes, identified by generic name, brand name, and supplier...For people trying to reduce toxic or irritating materials from their home, its comprehensive coverage and thorough research make the book essential. If you're planning a new home or remodel, the list of suppliers and information sources alone make it worth the purchase price. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

You and your family deserve a healthy house and this book will show you how you can have one. In it, you’ll learn:

• Why many houses make people sick.
• Why the air indoors is much worse than it is outdoors.
• Why carpeting and kitchen cabinets can be unhealthy.
• How your furnace can be dangerous to your health.
• How to select healthier building products.
• How tight construction can be a healthy idea.
• How to properly ventilate houses.
• What you can do if you live in an unhealthy house.
• How to reduce your exposure to electromagnetic fields.
• What to do about lead, asbestos, radon, and mold.

This 2001 4th edition contains contributions, in the form of sidebars, from 50 healthy house professionals from across North America.

We are pleased to be publishing this greatly expanded, updated third edition of The Healthy House by John Bower. Since the first edition came out back in 1989, this single book has not only expanded the awareness about the problems of common, but unhealthy, building materials and practices, but more importantly, it has offered real solutions in easy-to-understand language with listings of hundreds of safer alternative products. In short, we feel this is one book that is essential for anyone wanting to be a truly informed homeowner or housing (designer, contractor, builder) professional. --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.

JOHN BOWER has been involved with healthy house construction since 1984. His other books include Healthy House Building for the New Millennium, The Healthy House Answer Book, and Understanding Ventilation. He has also written scores of magazine articles and given dozens of presentations at builders’ conferences throughout North America. John is the recipient of a Professional Achievement Award from Professional Builder magazine, which named him one of “60 Influential People, Products, and Events” in the home building industry. He serves on the Editorial Advisory Board of Indoor Environment Connections and was listed as one of the “Indoor Environment Power 50,” a Who’s Who in the Indoor Environment Industry, by Indoor Environment Review.

Introduction. Americans are overwhelmingly interested in better health today. Most television news shows include regular health segments, and many have special health corespondents or doctors on their payrolls. In a poll taken by Organic Gardening magazine, 70% of American consumers said, if they had a choice, they'd buy organic fruits and vegetables at their local market--and more than half of them would be willing to pay as much as 20% more. Yet, many of us are unaware of the health threats inside our own homes. While a survey found that one-third of building managers recognized that indoor air pollution is a "serious" health threat, almost none regard it as a serious risk in their own buildings. But, it probably is.

A house is not simply a benign structure in which you relax. It's an active, enclosed system. And, when you are inside it, you become an integral part of that system. If your house is like most being built in the U.S. today, it is composed of many individual components that contain toxic chemicals. Carpeting and floor tiles are chemically treated to render them stain resistant. Wall coverings are chemically treated with mold inhibitors. Wood windows are made with chemically treated lumber. These treatments can be harmful in their own right, but when they outgas into the living space of your house, they can interact to form new toxic compounds.

Enter you and your family. You have now linked into this enclosed system for better or worse. Probably worse. As the components of your home outgas (release chemicals into the air), they contaminate the air you are breathing. As they are inhaled, they are absorbed by your lungs and pass into your bloodstream. Some are absorbed through your skin. As an article in Interior Design pointed out, "our interiors, once our chief refuge from urban terrors, are now themselves seen as sources of danger." When you consider the number of hours spent indoors, it only makes sense to build a healthy house rather than an unhealthy one.

The federal government has barely begun to promote the concept of healthy houses. In fact, many products with known negative health effects are widely available and are being actively promoted by manufacturers and lumberyards. Examples include particle board (which is loaded with formaldehyde), and salt-treated lumber (which contains arsenic). Nations like West Germany, Canada, and Sweden are much more involved in promoting healthy building products and techniques. They have already learned that the ill health of their citizens is often related to housing.

What symptoms can you expect by living in an unhealthy house? Actually, you can experience anything from a headache, insomnia, or skin rash, to severe joint pain, anxiety, or depression. While much of the medical community is unaware of the true cause-and-effect relationship between indoor air quality and human health, there is a growing minority of health care professionals who are well-informed about the devastating consequences of living in sick houses. Some architects and builders are also starting to become aware of the problem. Yet, most houses continue to be built in unhealthy ways.

The good news is that healthy building materials and practices are available. It only takes a little more time, planning, and money--but not much--to build a healthy house instead of one that will put you and your family at risk. Surveys have shown, homeowners not only want organic vegetables--they also want healthy houses. Professional Builder magazine has been asking questions of home buyers for several years about healthy housing. In 1990, they found that over 80% of home buyers felt environmental issues were important and a survey done in Bellevue, Washington found that home buyers would pay as much as $15,000-25,000 more for healthy-house features, based on a $240,000 home. But healthy features can also be incorporated into lower-cost housing.

This book will show you how traditional house construction causes poor indoor air quality. However, more importantly, it will present hundreds of healthier alternative building materials and construction techniques. To help you locate suppliers, Appendix I contains the addresses and telephone numbers of organizations and manufacturers shown in bold type throughout the text.

This is not a step-by-step instruction book on how to build one particular healthy house. Instead, it is a reference book that can help you buy, build, or remodel any house so that it won't make you sick. Here's to your house, and to your health. John Bower --Ce texte fait référence à une édition épuisée ou non disponible de ce titre.